This webinar is hosted by NAEP, outside of IdAEP. NAEP Members are Free, Chapter and Non-Members: $50. Register here!

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how environmental review and permitting are conducted. From drafting support to analysis and project record management, AI-assisted tools are increasingly embedded in environmental review workflows, raising important questions about accuracy, accountability, and legal defensibility. This webinar focuses first on the foundational changes in NEPA to date, including new proposals, and sets the stage for the inclusion of AI as a tool for expediency, with an update on CEQ’s attention on technology to improve efficiency. Topics include legal Ethics in a rapidly changing world, including artificial intelligence and legal ethics, and ethical considerations for environmental professionals, and the ethical duty to incorporate values both in legal representation and environmental practice. The current Supreme Court landscape for NEPA review is discussed, which has direct implications for AI-assisted environmental reviews, the emerging legal tension when AI enters the NEPA process, and a practical legal framework for risk management. Finally, ethical and legal implications of artificial intelligence are explored with practitioner best practices for responsible use of AI, from design and development, deployment, and use.

Bringing together practitioner and policy perspectives, the discussion examines where AI is currently used across environmental review processes, where existing safeguards may be insufficient, and what forms of review, documentation, and transparency can help ensure AI-supported analyses remain reliable and defensible.